When the Three Stooges first signed with Columbia Pictures, their deal was for one short. 1934's Woman Hater, done entirely in rhyme, wasn't a huge success, but the Stooges hit their stride with their second short, Punch D... more &raquorunks, and began to settle into their definitive roles - Moe as boss, Larry the middleman and Curly as their foil. Witness the rise of these comedy icons in this high-spirited collection containing the first 10 Columbia shorts, all of which have been remastered for the best quality picture and sound. You'll experience the eye-pokes, face slaps, hollow head knocks and knuckle cracks like you've never heard or seen them before. So go ahead, nyuck yourself out!&laquo less

Movie Reviews

"THIS IS AN ACTUAL VIEWED, IN FULL, REVIEW FROM AN ADVANCED COPY OF THE NEW DVD SET I RECEIVED FROM SONY PICTURES ON 10/18/07:

To Stooge or not to Stooge, that is the question. For almost a decade since Sony began issuing The Three Stooges shorts on DVD, fans have been asking when chronological ordered sets would be released. During the last nine years, previous compilations have been a mixed bag of quality prints; odd pairings of titles; ill fated "themed" discs, and a color/B&W series. Some shorts were duplicated several times, while other films never saw the light of day. The number of shorts appearing on each disc steadily decreased. If you've felt burned by previous DVD releases that had splices, missing dialogue or deleted scenes, worry not.

Sony got the message. The Three Stooges Collection 1934-1936 is the first in a series of DVD's that presents the shorts in their original release order. For ardent fans, it's a knucklehead's dream. For the beginner, it is the proper way to be introduced to the legendary trio. Each short has been restored to its original running time.

For those of you not familiar with the history of the Three Stooges, they made more films than any comedy team. A total of 190 shorts (or two reelers) and five starring feature films were produced from 1934 through 1965 at Columbia Pictures. They hold the record for the longest running studio association in Hollywood history. This was no accident. Simply put, The Three Stooges are funny. They produced a bunch of classic episodes. Of course, with 190 titles, there are some lemons in the barrel. However, with the first set of chronological shorts, each one has plenty of Stooge brilliance. Even their first short, "Woman Haters", an oddity done in rhythm, has enough mayhem to rise it above the "musical novelty" that it was originally billed.

The Stooges' career was drenched in irony. During their heyday of appearing in the classic short films, the Stooges longed to make feature length movies, fearing that the shorts were holding them back. But it was the Columbia shorts that kept them alive. Because of their running time (between 16-18 minutes), The Three Stooges shorts were like mini sitcoms. They weren't bogged down with dated musical numbers and gooey romantic sub plots like features starring Abbott and Costello and The Marx Brothers, for example. The pacing was that of animated cartoons and the Stooges were human cartoon characters. The short films they made 70+ years ago fit surprisingly well in today's video game generation of quick paced action, fast edits and short attention spans.

The other alleged nail in their career coffin was television. When the shorts market dried up in theatres due to the popularity of TV, the Stooges thought they were finished. Their backlog of films were sold in syndication and millions of people have been exposed to them ever since, therefore rescuing them from obscurity and cementing them as pop culture icons.

The first 19 of these episodes are featured in this collection. But they don't look like they did on TV. Sony has lovingly restored each short to its original brilliance and the results are nothing short of spectacular. The quality of the restoration is on par with that of Disney, the Looney Tunes series and classic films like "Wizard Of Oz", "Casablanca", and "Singin' In The Rain."

I've seen each of these Curly shorts more times than I should admit to, and watching these newly mastered films is like seeing them for the first time. Gone are the hairline scratches, dust, pops and other debris commonly found on TV and previous VHS and DVD prints. The black and white resolution is rich and some of the shorts look like they have a glossy finish to them. On "Three Little Pigskins", the picture is so clear at times, I can see the beauty parlor sign behind the boys and read that a polish and fingerwave cost 79 cents. The picture quality is that pristine! Those glorious sound effects jump from my speakers. The oldest film on the set is 73 years, and it looks beautiful on a widescreen HD TV.

So, if you're still asking yourself the question: to Stooge or not to Stooge, the answer should be as predictable as a slap from Moe. Why, Soitinly!"

Total nineteen classic shorts. Some of the finest Three Stooges shorts made between 1934-1936. Disorder In The Court, Movie Maniacs are two of the best examples of three Stooges early period. Thanks for reading."

Nyuk nyuk nyuk!

Keven McQueen | Richmond, KY USA | 07/11/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"At last, Sony has (eventually!) gotten around to releasing ALL the Stooges' films, and in chronological order. I just hope they don't intend to wait several months between releases. The Stooges made films for 23 years and if each DVD set includes just two years' worth of shorts, without a frequent release schedule it could be a decade before all the films are out. In other words: Sony, please don't "spread out.""

Three Stooge Disc Set Review

Steven M. Miller | St.Louis | 11/03/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I absolutely never leave opinions on titles, however; in this case I believe it is necessary. I received the disc set the other day and viewed the first disc. The picture clearity and quality are amazing on my HD tv. I didn't care for the promotional advertising include on the second disc. Sony should advertise upcoming releases in a more convetional way. A side from this, I believe the restorations are simply spectacular and would recommend a purchase to any Stooge fan."

Better late than never

Anyechka | Rensselaer, NY United States | 12/15/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It might have taken a really long time for Columbia to finally issue Stooge shorts on DVD properly, in a way that fans wanted (chronologically and in black and white), but in the end the extremely long wait was worth it. I know some people initially feared this set might not sell as optimally as it could have five or seven years ago, when the Stooges were last regularly shown on television and thus in the minds of more people, but it appears those fears were unfounded. These shorts have never looked better; it's a huge upgrade in quality from the old VHS collections and the prints used on a lot of the older DVDs. The only short whose quality isn't a big improvement is 'Whoops, I'm an Indian!' (which isn't one of my favorites anyway). For some reason, the print used is darker than the nice one used when it was issued on DVD before. Though apart from that, the set is perfect. They even used a complete print of 'Three Little Beers,' so much better than the previous DVD version that had a brief section of footage missing.

While I'm sure it is painful on one's wallet if one has already bought all of the previous "themed" discs and now has to start all over again, the extra money is really worth it. This two-disc set provides a LOT more shorts per buck than any of the previous discs did, in mostly all pristine quality, and finally with a "play all" option, something most of the other discs didn't have. Eight of the twenty-one shorts have never been issued on DVD before. I also love how the discs are stored in individual thin boxes instead of stacked overlapping one another or just in one regular-sized DVD box. It would have been great had there been some bonus material, but I agree that they're probably saving it for the later sets that will cover the later Shemp era and the Joe Besser era, to help to up their sales potential.

This very early Stooge era isn't quite my favorite because they hadn't really fully establised their screen characters, screen relationship, or the specific type of comedy they wanted to concentrate on (all of the ingredients are there, but just not brought to perfection just yet), but I do love a lot of these shorts. In spite of the fact that this is a bit before their classic era really started, there's a sort of charm and magic in watching the chaotic freewheeling spirit of something like 'Pop Goes the Easel' or 'Three Little Pigskins.' The only short on here I dislike is 'Restless Knights,' which I'd consider one of the worst shorts of the Curly era. They only got better and better as they went along. Hopefully future sets won't be long in coming and we won't have to wait another five-plus years for the second volume."